NEW YORK – The Columbia volleyball returns home this weekend to host a pair of matches against Ivy League foes Brown and Yale in Levien Gymnasium. The Lions are set to battle the Bears on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. match versus Yale on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Follow the Lions Live stats and a live video stream will be available for both matches via gocolumbialions.com and the Ivy League Digital Network by clicking the links above.

Fans can also follow live updates throughout both matches on Twitter @CUVB and @GoColumbiaLions.

Last Time Out Columbia team fell to Harvard in straight sets on Saturday, Oct. 12 night by set scores of 16-25, 21-25, 21-25 in Malkin Athletic Center.

The Lions dropped to 4-10 on the season with a 2-3 Ivy League mark after rallying for a come-from-behind victory over Dartmouth on Friday, Oct. 11.

A trio of Lions posted identical 14-kill performances to lift Columbia to the victory over the Big Green. Sophomore Atlanta Moye-McLaren recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 14 kills and a season-high 27 digs on the night, while classmates Bailey Springer and Alex Reale chipped in with 14 kills of their own. Katarina Jovicic also had a strong night, making a career-best seven blocks (four solo) to go with five kills (0 errors) for an impressive .385 hitting percentage.

Scouting the Bears: The Lions will looks to sweep the Bears for the third straight year following 3-2 and 3-0 victories a season ago.

Brown (7-9, 3-2 Ivy League) is tied with Harvard for second place in the Ivy League standings after splitting their matches last weekend. The Bears defeated Princeton in five sets on Friday before being swept by Penn in straight sets on Saturday.

Maddie Lord holds a team-high 2.57 kills per set this season, while Thea Derrough is close behind with 2.47. Kathryn Conner is pacing the Bears with 3.50 digs per set, and Sarah Lucenti is setting things in motion averaging 5.05 assists.

Scouting the Bulldogs: First-place Yale (11-3, 5-0 Ivy League) won its 19th consecutive Ivy League match after sweeping Penn and Princeton last weekend. The Bulldogs own the third-longest active conference-winning streak in the nation behind Morehead State, winners of 28 straight Ohio Valley Conference matches, and LIU Brooklyn, which is on a 24-match Northeast Conference winning stint.

The Bulldogs currently lead the Ivy League in nearly statistical category except for blocks, which the Lions and Crimson own with 2.18 per set. Most notable, Yale leads the league and ranks 11th in the country in service aces, registering 1.78 per set. Kendall Polan, ranked eighth in the nation, is averaging 0.53 aces per set and has accumulated 26 to date.

Yale’s Kelly Johnson was named Ivy League Player of the Week after recording back-to-back triple-doubles for the Bulldogs last weekend. She had 14 kills, 16 digs and 18 assists on Friday night against Penn, followed by 13 kills, 14 digs and 13 assists against Princeton on Saturday.

Mollie Rogers is leading the way on the Bulldog attack this season with 2.94 kills per set, while Jesse Ebner leads the conference with a .422 hitting percentage on 122 kills and 25 errors in 230 attempts. Maddie Rudnick is pacing Yale with 4.65 digs per set.

Scouting the Lions:Columbia will look earn a winning Ivy League record following its pair of home matches against Brown and Yale in Levien Gym this weekend. With just three upperclassmen, the Lions are a young team, but their gutsy play and versatility are hard to match when battling it out on the court.

Killing It: A pair of sophomores lead the Columbia attack, paced by Springer’s team-high 3.40 kills per set, good for second in the Ivy League. Teammate Moye-McLaren is close behind, ranked fourth in the league with 3.10 per set. Earlier this season, Springer recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Binghamton and Seton Hall. She exploded with new career highs of 25 kills and 16 digs versus the Bearcats, and followed that performance with 22 kills and 12 digs in the Cavalier Classic against the Pirates. Moye-McLaren has been a double-double machine for the Lions, recording six so far this year. The outside hitter had one of her strongest matches of the season in Columbia’s win over Fordham, swinging at a .417 mark with 17 kills and 23 digs.

Block Party: The Lions are currently tied with Harvard in leading the league in blocks, averaging 2.18 per set. Senior Savannah Fletcher and first-year Kesi Neblett have been strong assets defensively for the Lions this season leading the way for Columbia registering 0.94 blocks per set. Jovicic is close behind, making 0.93 blocks per set.

No Diggity: The Lions are currently ranked 48th in the nation with 15.97 digs per set, led by a team-best 3.37 average by Moye-McLaren.

Jenny on the Block: First-year Jennifer Petrovich has been key in setting the Lions’ offense. She has already racked up five double-doubles on the year and ranks fifth in the Ivy League with 7.71 assists per set.